Today’s major European transport routes are full of bottlenecks, especially at border crossings.
In 2007, the European Union launched the concept of “green corridors” to enable traffic to flow more smoothly and efficiently and in a more environmentally acceptable, climate-smart manner. With today’s economic and climatic concerns, people are looking with increasing interest at the concept, says Jerker Sjögren, a special adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications and coordinator of Sweden’s green corridors work.

In 2006, the transport sector accounted for 19 percent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. It was the only sector in which such emissions rose. In response, in autumn 2007 the European Commission published a freight logistics action plan that launched the concept of green corridors and urged EU member countries to think about what might be done to create a more coherent transport system in Europe.

“Now that a few years have passed, we can say that the initiative was a good response to major challenges that the transport industry, and thus the economy as a whole, is facing today,” says Sjögren. “Recovery from the global recession is sluggish, and the threat of climate change will require fresh thinking in all economic sectors. This is why many people are attaching great hopes to green corridors. By means of efficient logistics and smoother transport, we can both help lubricate the economy and reduce environment impacts.”

In Sweden, with its long distances and relatively heavy dependence on exports, there is a great need to optimise transport flows, Sjögren says. The green corridors concept has been well-received by the country’s Logistics Forum, an Enterprise Ministry advisory board that includes representatives from the business community, universities and research institutions.  

“We had our kick-off in the autumn of 2008 and began by trying to arrive at a definition of what ‘green corridors’ actually are,” he says. The European Commission had not formulated such a definition.

The Logistics Forum reached a consensus that green corridors should be based on six points:

• Sustainable logistics solutions and the utilisation of co-modality
• A harmonised system of rules, with openness for all players
• A concentration of national and international goods traffic on long transport routes
• Strategically placed trans-shipment points
• Adapted and supportive infrastructure
• Innovative information systems, collaboration models and technology.

Among these points, the concept of co-modality is particularly important, Sjögren says. It means that every mode of transport – rail, roadways, maritime shipping and sometimes also aviation – should be included on its own merits, helping to achieve the most efficient, least environmentally destructive overall solution.

“Generally speaking, it is a matter of finding solutions in which you drive a truck a short distance and feed cargo to a terminal for onward transport by train or boat, then do the opposite at the other end,” he says. “You could describe it as going the first mile and the last mile by truck and the rest by rail or by sea.”

Sjögren emphasises that although these ideas are not new, because of technical and administrative obstacles this kind of co-modal transport remains uncommon. In technical terms, for example, there are problems in transferring cargo between different modes of transport.

“In administrative terms, there is still too much hassle when it comes to crossing land borders, especially by train,” Sjögren says. “And it requires a lot of paper-pushing. We think this should have been fully digitised a long time ago.”

However, there are positive early examples of co-modal transport. The Logistics Forum has singled out nearly a dozen high-priority projects that will contribute to the development of green corridors. These include a transport route between Maschen, Germany, and Hallsberg, Sweden, in which railways provide cross-border service and trucks feed into trans-shipment terminals along the route.
Inside Sweden’s borders, there is also a prioritised model project in which rail freight carrier Green Cargo, truck manufacturers Scania and Volvo and fashion chain KappAhl are collaborating to reduce environmental impact. Deliveries arrive in Gothenburg by ship, are driven in a biodiesel-powered Volvo truck to a terminal, travel by Green Cargo train to the Årsta terminal in southern Stockholm, then travel from there by ethanol-powered Scania truck to clothing stores in Stockholm.
“This project has succeeded in showing a large impact in the form of reduced emissions,” Sjögren says.

Sjögren maintains that green corridor efforts have reached a threshold where it is time to shift into a higher gear. A number of international collaboration projects have been established, both at the political level and between public authorities and transport companies. 
“Green corridors will be an important element of European transport policy in the coming decade,” he says. “Now we need to fill the concept with real-world content. The point of departure is that we have to base this work on today’s transport flows, select a few routes across Europe where the volume is greatest and create some form of pilot corridors for the concept in which both business models and new technology can be tested.”

4 transport routes 

Four transport corridors are candidates to become green corridors due to their great transport volume.

1. Corridor A
A rail link between the major ports of Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Genoa, Italy. This is already a model in the EU, and governments, rail authorities and other major players in the transport sector in four countries have joined to form a consortium to facilitate administration, thereby making transport services more efficient. It is an interesting model to build on and supplement, for example with feeder traffic to terminals along the route.

2. The Brenner Corridor: a highway and railway from Munich, Germany, through the Alps and the Brenner Pass down to Torino, Italy. The countries along the route have begun to collaborate in order to improve infrastructure, eliminate bottlenecks and identify administrative obstacles and safety/security risks that need to be addressed.

3. The Western Corridor: a co-modal transport route from Rotterdam northward via Denmark and Sweden’s west coast to Oslo, Norway. Sweden has made initial contacts with ministries and other players in the affected countries. The next step will be to draft joint guidelines for a coherent route that can efficiently take advantage of environmentally adapted co-modal transport.

4. The East-West Corridor: the route from Denmark in the west along Sweden’s south coast and across the Baltic Sea to the Baltic countries, onward towards Belarus and eventually perhaps via the Trans-Siberian Railway to China. Flows on this corridor are not so heavy today, but there is major potential. EU has designated the countries around the Baltic Sea as a macro-region where there should be extra focus on development and growth issues, including those that are transport-related.

Up until now, society is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which are being depleted. The challenge is to make use of today’s green technology and simultaneously develop a sustainable transport system for the future.

As a main sponsor of the Nov. 25-28 annual meeting Eurocities 2009, a network of European city governments, Scania takes the opportunity to show how transport companies can quickly move to low-carbon urban transport solutions.

 Read more about Scania’s concepts and solutions for sustainable transport

Jonas Strömberg, director of Sustainable Systems at Scania

 “With more than 50 percent of the world’s population living in urban centres, it is imperative that cities become sustainable. Thus there are lots of business opportunities at the moment for companies [like Scania] that supply green technology.”

What is Scania’s contribution to sustainable cities?

“We have a range of products, buses, trucks and engines that fit well into the sustainable city concept, which encourages both public transport and energy efficiency, and thereby reduces CO2-emissions. We will also work in partnerships with fuel and infrastructure suppliers.

What are the main challenges for sustainable cities?

“Transport is one of hardest nuts to crack. Society is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which are being depleted. The challenge is to make use of today’s green technology and simultaneously develop a sustainable transport system for the future.

“Another challenge is how society works with different fuels in different countries, due to the lack of harmonised standards, tax systems and so on. Regardless of the type of fuel, we all must become more energy efficient in the future.”

Bus Rapid Transit - the fast track to sustainable city transports

As private motorists jam the streets of the world’s cities, city planners are turning to Bus Rapid Transit (BTR) systems − smart, comprehensive city bus solutions that transform buses into a kind of tram with rubber wheels.

Compared with urban rail, BRT systems are far cheaper to build than rail networks: USD 1–10 million per kilometre compared with USD 40–220 per kilometre for an underground metro rail network, according to German technical consultancy GTZ. The time required from plan to fully built system is also shorter: 12 to 18 months for an urban BRT network compared with three to 30 years for a metro system.

And of course it is a huge gain for the environment if 150 commuters can be persuaded to ride an environmentally friendly bus route instead of driving 120 private cars. 
Today there are some 200 BRT systems worldwide, either in operation or being planned. So far countries in Latin America and Asia have invested the most in these systems. In Colombia, BRTs are found in Bogotá and six other cities. Mexico has 10 BRT systems, including one in Mexico City. In China, where urban areas are expanding rapidly, there are now BRT networks in some 15 cities, with Guangzhou (10 million inhabitants) joining the list in 2010. The United States now has BRTs up and running in 36 cities and more are expected.

"Choose the largest diameter possible for volume needs and the narrowest tyres for load needs". Christopher Watts, Wheel and Tyre Purchasing, Scania

Choose the right tyres and gain optimal vehicle performance and safety as well as optimized fuel economy.

Scania lists 250 different different approved tyres for its trucks and buses amongst five premium brands. Not surprisingly, selecting tyres can be confusing. But you can demystify the process by answering just three technical questions, says Christopher Watts, Wheel and Tyre Purchasing, Scania. This process will, according to Watts, lead to tyres that offer “the best combination of handling, service life and fuel economy” for a specific vehicle.

What do you use your vehicle for?

The answer will suggest the right tyre category. All categories are a function of journey length, road conditions and, where road conditions are good, the weather.

”Tyre pressure that is 20 percent too low or too high air shortens the useful tyre life by 20 percent,” Christopher Watts, Wheel and Tyre Purchasing, Scania.

In long-haul applications, vehicles tend to travel for long distances at a steady speed on smooth, flat, even roads that have few curves. The focus is on low rolling resistance and fuel economy. With tyres optimised for this type of driving, fuel economy may improve by as much as 6 percent, compared with tyres adapted for driving on regional or urban roads.

For construction and mining applications, however, trucks travel shorter distances on poorer, unpaved or even aggressive surfaces. The focus here is on grip and good resistance to external damage. Timber trucks, for example, operate on and between sites to pick up cargo. Forest roads may be covered with blasted rock – the toughest road conditions anywhere for tyres.

What is your tyre size?

The right tyre size depends on vehicle load weight or vehicle height. For heavy loads, tyres bigger in width and diameter are needed for greater air volume to support the load. If vehicle height is desired − typical for high-volume products that require a lot of space and where weight is a secondary issue − smaller-diameter tyres bring the payload platform lower to the ground.

The trick to achieving the best fuel economy, according to Watts, is to go for the lowest rolling resistance. “Do this by choosing the largest diameter possible for your volume needs and the narrowest tyres for your load needs.”

What is the right tyre pattern for each axle on your vehicle?

Patterns exist for four applications: drive, steer, trailer and all-position. On drive tyres, for example, the pattern is coarser than that on steer tyres in order to achieve a better grip during propulsion and braking. On steer tyres, the pattern optimises scuff resistance, low-speed turning and directional stability for cornering − and thus improves handling.

“Quite often, I see combinations of tyres on vehicles that give sub-optimal performance,” says Watts. If, for example, drive tyres are fitted on steer or trailing positions, this may cause uneven tyre wear, vibration, poorer handling and reduced fuel economy. “A simple guide here is to put drive-type tyres on all non-steered, driven axles and steer tyres in all other positions,” he says. “Trailer tyres should, of course, be used on trailers.”

Buses are the notable exception to the rule, however, says Watts. “Achieving optimal ride quality [reduced noise and better comfort] is the issue, rather than the load factor. So steer-type tyres, which have a smoother profile, can be used all around.”

Proper tyre care is also essential, Watts says. “A correctly inflated tyre lasts longer,” he explains. “Air pressure that is 20 percent too low or too high shortens the useful tyre life by 20 percent. Correct tyre pressure is also vital for safety. Excessively low tyre pressure makes the vehicle unstable.”

Quick guide to choosing the right tyre

Long Haul

Regional

Tyres designed to operate on secondary roads, in urban areas, city traffic and frequent stop-and-go traffic. Also suitable for long haulage operation on rough roadways. Medium to high rolling resistance.

Construction

Tyres with high traction and damage resistance for vehicles operating on and between construction sites. High to heavy rolling resistance.

Off Road

Tyres designed for vehicles used almost exclusively on temporary roadways in difficult terrain, typically in mining operation or for military duties. Heavy rolling resistance.

Urban

Tyres designed for city traffic. They have reinforced sidewalls, to resist frequent curb contact, and durability to cope with stop-and-go traffic. Medium rolling resistance.

Winter

Tyres designed to provide the best possible grip and vehicle control on ice and snow as an alternative to long-haul, regional or urban tyres. Medium rolling resistance.

“Now let go of the accelerator, Danny, we’re nearly at the top, says Chris Vermeiren, responsible for driver training at the Scania Academy Benelux. “Use the momentum.” Vermeiren is pointing forward, toward the path that the Scania R 480 instruction truck, loaded with 26 tonnes of gravel, is to take. As it glides effortlessly to the top of the slope, Vermeiren explains, “That can save fuel. Economical driving is the sum of small parts.”

Recording the fuel consumption

Amazing. It is a very new way of driving. For me, it saved almost 15 percent in diesel.” Danny DeRuyter, driver at Transmet Hauliers, Belgium

Driver Danny DeRuyter, 33, of Transmet Hauliers, is making his second run on the special circuit near Heverlee in Belgium, laid out by the Scania Academy team. On his first run, DeRuyter drove the circuit – some 40 kilometres – in his own driving style. At the end, just after he parks the truck at the starting point, Vermeiren goes through the run with him.

The Interactor, an on-board computer, has recorded the average speed, fuel consumption and driving time for the run, and how many full stops were made. And Vermeiren has carefully monitored how DeRuyter drives.

The instruction truck is equipped with Scania Opticruise automated gearchanging system, but although DeRuyter knows how the Opticruise works, he still prefers driving in manual. He explains: “I have a sporty style, and I’m used to a manual shift. That’s why.”

Optimize for economical driving

Vermeiren replies, “A manual shift is no problem, but if you learn to use the Opticruise properly, after a week you will never look back. It is less tiring, and you can concentrate more on the traffic. And optimum driving with the Opticruise does not mean you always use the automatic function. Depending on your judgement, you can shift manually, too. You are still the boss of the vehicle. I did note that you tend to drive at high revs, and the Scania engines deliver most torque at a low engine speed, in the economical zone between 1000 and 1500 revs. You do anticipate well. In other words, when you come up to a junction or traffic lights, you reduce speed in time.”

Driver training – in theory and in practice

After the initial practical part, the course has a theory section during which Vermeiren explains how taking roundabouts, traffic lights, bends and gradients influences fuel consumption. He also explains how DeRuyter can save fuel by correctly using the various systems and instruments in the vehicle. He focuses particular attention on the retarder, the hydraulic auxiliary braking system that relieves the truck’s service brakes. “The greatest savings can be made by using the vehicle’s mass smartly, by letting the truck roll,” he says.

Save fuel by 15 percent

Danny DeRuyter then starts the second circuit with Vermeiren occasionally offering such useful tips as: keep the revs down, shift up two gears at a time unless you are on a very steep gradient, let the vehicle roll, avoid braking as much as possible and avoid having to stop.

At the end of the second run, DeRuyter takes just a minute longer to complete the same circuit, despite making one additional full stop. But it also turns out that after the second circuit he has reduced his total fuel consumption by more than 3 litres.

He is impressed but still has his doubts. “Amazing,” he says. “It’s a very new way of driving. For me, it saved almost 15 percent in diesel. But can I achieve similar savings on my own 420 hp truck?”

Driver training makes a difference

Scania Driver Training shows results

Vermeiren is prepared for the question. “Yes,” he says.
“The advantage is in your driving style. Rolling to a stop, driving at optimum low revs, anticipating …. You are in charge at the wheel. And you’re already relaxed when you drive. But I guarantee you that if you drive according to these new rules, you will be even less stressed – with practically the same driving time.

The new driving style is better for your truck, your boss, road safety, the environment and even for you.”

8 tips on how to drive eco-friendly

Drive in the green zone

• Start without accelerating, and move off gently. Use the lowest possible gear to save fuel, and avoid wearing the clutch.
• Try to shift up to the highest gear at the lowest possible engine speed. Drive as much as possible in the green zone, preferably the E-block.
• Do not run the engine warm unnecessarily long. Do not leave the engine running in idle unnecessarily during loading and unloading.

Avoid braking

• Shift down as little as possible, and try to avoid braking. Use the rolling capacity of the truck. Keep your distance so you don’t need to accelerate and brake as much.
• As far as possible, drive at a constant speed in the highest possible gear. Avoid excessive cruising speeds.

Check tools and tyres

• Check tyre pressure at least once a week.
• Use tools such as cruise control and on-board computers.
• Reduce wind resistance with well-adjusted spoilers. Avoid unnecessary accessories.

Scania Driver Training

• More information about Scania Driver Training

Every month our company fills up 300,000 litres of diesel. A fuel saving of 3 to 4 percent represents 9,000 to 12,000 litres a month.” Herman Smets, general manager of Transmet

“No matter how experienced a driver you are, specific tips can help you drive better, safer and above all more economically,” says General Manager Herman Smets of Transmet situated in Boutersem, Belgium.

Smets is much in favour of life-long learning. Fifteen drivers from his 95 Scania truck fleet have already completed Scania driver training. Transmet leases its trucks via Scania Finance, including the maintenance contract, which means that his fleet is entirely renewed over a five-year period.
“Working with modern technology is great, but you have to learn how to use it at its best,” Smets explains.

Open for driver training

“We do also look at other characteristics,” he continues. “First we select drivers we know will be open to suggestions; people who can pass on the message to their colleagues. You need opinion leaders, because, no disrespect intended, drivers are quite conservative and only take things on board from professionals that they respect.”

The results are clearly positive. The course shows that drivers can complete the same circuit 10 and 15 percent more economically, in practically the same time.

“In everyday practice, for me a fuel saving of 3 to 4 percent is excellent,” Smets says. “Just do the sums. Every month our company fills up 300,000 litres of diesel. A fuel saving of 3 to 4 percent represents 9,000 to 12,000 litres a month – a good enough reason to have our drivers take further training.

“We are already considering a regular follow-up for the drivers’ course, and during our annual Transmet day in April, we are discussing with Scania how to limit the level of manoeuvring damage,” Smets says. “Life-long learning pays for itself.”

Scania Driver Training

• More Information about Scania Driver Training

More than half the people in the world live in urban centres. They consume 75 percent of all resources and create 75 percent of all waste. Sustainability is the key if these centres are to remain habitable for future generations. The concept of a sustainable city is built on a definition set forth in the 1987 Brundtland report. This UN-sponsored report characterised sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Since then, efforts such as the Clinton Climate Initiative, launched in 2006, have increased society’s awareness of the economic, social and ecological dimensions surrounding the concept of sustainability.

In a sustainable city, resource consumption is minimised and renewable resources replace fossil fuels wherever possible. Green spaces are preserved and transport has more to do with walkways, bicycle paths and public transport than highways, congestion and urban sprawl.
Robert Vos, professor at the University of Southern California’s Center for Sustainable Cities, stresses the importance of not only preserving the biological integrity of a city and its hinterlands, but also of having social, economic and ecological aspects work hand in hand to achieve sustainability.
“We need to consider a sustainable livelihood as well,” he says. “One of the great lessons of sustainability is that a successful environmental policy needs to be linked with good jobs. Wastewater treatment infrastructure, for example, should not only support environmental policies, but also contribute to livelihoods. The same is the case with energy and transportation policies. It is important to consider the whole picture.”

Although many cities claim sustainability status, Vos says none can rightly be called sustainable as yet. “Sustainability is a journey rather than a destination,” he says. “It requires leaving enough for future generations and thinking in much longer time frames than normal. Typical planning is for five or 20 years, whereas sustainable city planning is multi-generational – 50 years or more.”
But there are some cities that are well on their way to becoming sustainable, he says. One is Brazil’s Curitiba. In 30 years, the population of Curitiba doubled, and with the rapid growth came major challenges. Despite this, the city was able to significantly improve its quality of life through social and environmental programmes and improved public transport.
“In Los Angeles we refer to the ‘Curitiba model’ for buses,” Vos says. “Curitiba has platforms for loading passengers, articulated buses that hold more people, high-speed dedicated bus lanes and the ability for buses to control traffic lights. We’ve adopted some of these features in Los Angeles but have a long way to go.”

What makes Curitiba even more successful, he says, is that in building out its transport infrastructure, the city paid attention to the mobility of people at all economic levels. “In some cities, mobility is dependent on your social class, and this hampers access to jobs, affordable housing and so on,” Vos explains. “It is very important, not only in the developing world but here in Los Angeles and other American cities, that people can live somewhat close to work and have access to jobs without needing their own car.”
Scandinavian cities appear to be on the right track as well, with smaller ecological footprints than North American cities. Stockholm, for example, emits an average of four tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita a year, while most US cities emit on average 20 tonnes per capita a year. In Stockholm, the population also makes good use of the public transport system, with as much as 70 percent using it during peak traffic times.

Ulf Ranhagen is a Stockholm professor who also works for the European consulting company Sweco on holistic and sustainable urban development. He believes in combining city planning with environmental technology for sustainable cities.
“Increasingly people are recognising the importance of city planning in making cities more sustainable,” he says. “In the past there was a reactive approach to environmental issues, but now people are more proactive in making cities environmentally sustainable and at the same time more attractive, liveable and innovative.”
Ranhagen and his colleagues have helped cities in Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Russia and South Africa increase energy efficiency  through environmental technology. Now they are working on the first phase of an entirely new city, Caofeidian, to be situated 250 kilometres east of Beijing, that will accommodate an urban population of 400,000.

In the eco-city plan for Caofeidian, buses, bicycles and pedestrians are given priority. “We are introducing a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system with its own lanes that offers a high-capacity, rapid transit system as an attractive alternative to driving,” says Ranhagen. The BRT is being built up around mixed use, dense urban nodes with 50,000 inhabitants in each that also contain offices, homes, shopping (with ITS-based coordinated delivery service), bike service stations, car pools and other services. “With new cities like this, we have a unique opportunity to create a vision of the perfect sustainable city,” Ranhagen says.

At the heart of SymbioCity

Scania is a supplier of sustainable urban transport solutions to SymbioCity. SymbioCity is not an actual city, but rather a network of hundreds of consultants, contractors and system suppliers dedicated to spreading the vision of sustainable urbanism. Launched by the Swedish government in 2008, SymbioCity promotes holistic and sustainable urban development and works towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions, making energy and transport more efficient and improving water supplies.

Brundtland and sustainability

The Brundtland report, Our Common Future, was issued in 1987 by the UN-sponsored Brundtland Commission, led by chairman Gro Harlem Brundtland. The aim of the commission was to address “the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development”. For a full copy of the report, go to www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm

Jonas Strömberg - director of Sustainable Systems at Scania

3 Questions…

…for Jonas Strömberg, director of Sustainable Systems at Scania.

How can the SymbioCity initiative and the development of sustainable cities benefit Scania?
“With more than 50 percent of the world’s population living in urban centres, it is imperative that cities become sustainable. Thus there are lots of business opportunities at the moment for companies [like Scania] that supply green technology.”

What is Scania’s contribution to sustainable cities?
“We have a range of products, buses, trucks and engines that fit well into the sustainable city concept, which encourages both public transport and energy efficiency, and thereby reduces CO2-emissions. We will also work in partnerships with fuel and infrastructure suppliers.

What are the main challenges for sustainable cities?
“Transport is one of hardest nuts to crack. Society is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which are being depleted. The challenge is to make use of today’s green technology and simultaneously develop a sustainable transport system for the future.
“Another challenge is how society works with different fuels in different countries, due to the lack of harmonised standards, tax systems and so on. Regardless of the type of fuel, we all must become more energy efficient in the future.”

Text: Cari Simmons
Illustration: Caroline Andersson